“Connoisseur” Event Live at Mastro Auctions this December

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New Event Offers American and World History at Live Auction

“At Mastro Auctions we listen to our clients and watch for emerging trends
in supply and demand,” says COO Doug Allen. In response to an overwhelming
public fascination with American and world history, combined with an increasing
scarcity of important historical artifacts,

Mastro Auctions is launching the “Connoisseur” auction at 10.00
am on Saturday, December 15th, to be held live at Mastro headquarters in Burr
Ridge, Illinois. Burr Ridge is a suburb of Chicago, conveniently located near
both major airports.

Connoisseur: “A person with informed and astute discrimination, especially
concerning the arts or matters of taste”.

Clients of Mastro auctions know that each catalogue is a history book, documenting
and authenticating unique historical artifacts from the world of sports, or
the wider world of political, social, and cultural history. “Connoisseur”
will expand the reach of Mastro Auctions into this wider world, offering the
opportunity to learn history through the study and collection of art and artifacts,
or to showcase private and corporate collections to a vast and appreciative
audience. Each “Connoisseur” catalogue will offer a cabinet of curiosities
and a wealth of historical objects, with a strong emphasis on American political
memorabilia.

The inaugural event includes objects as diverse as an ancient Egyptian statuette
to a Royal Hawaiian quilt, and private collections of decorative and fine arts
of extraordinary diversity.

American history is superbly represented by artifacts from the last three centuries,
including a unique collection of bronzes by American sculptors portraying American
presidents; an impressive selection of signed presidential documents and photographs
and important artifacts led by an early 19th century desk believed to have been
used by Abraham Lincoln.

A remarkable work by Norman Rockwell ties American political history to the
collecting genre of illustration art and fine art, and a fascinating selection
of entertainment memorabilia is topped by an extremely rare archive of documents
relating to Elvis Presley’s purchase of Graceland for his parents in 1957
. New auction categories include “The World at War”, featuring items
surviving from the two world wars, notably a “trophy” wing section
captured from a German Fokker fighter plane during WWI. A catalogue section
related to the history of transportation features vintage material related to
motoring, cycling, seafaring and aeronautics. Fine and decorative arts include
a magnificent “Spider” lamp by Tiffany Studios, a comprehensive
collection of Rene Lalique glass featuring a previously unrecorded “cire
perdue” vase and paintings by American and European artists to suit all
tastes and budgets, including a powerful and topical original work by Salvador
Dali depicting the Madonna and Child in watercolor.

Completing the auction is a fine private collection of vintage American toys
in excellent condition and a unique collection of period American metal advertising
signs, including several rarities to the auction block.

According to Nicholas Dawes, vice president of Live Auctions, “Objects
have the power to open an educational window into history and present the opportunity
to understand and appreciate the past. Connoisseur lets you open that window,
as a buyer or a seller, and reap all of the rewards within.”

Customers will be able to place absentee/ceiling bids, secure a phone for the
lots they are interested in or physically attend the event at Mastro Auctions’
Burr Ridge facility. Specific highlights include:

Norman Rockwell's technique was to gather excerpts from ordinary American life,
including the faces of undistinguished people, and to blend the carefully-selected
pieces into a tapestry that was his own, and thus unique. Careful reflection
in pondering any Rockwell painting will inspire life's most special daydreams
behind the eyes of the thoughtful viewer.

The cover of the Saturday Evening Post, a weekly general-interest periodical
whose circulation once blanketed the nation, was the most accessible public
window to Rockwell's touch, and his genius. The image being offered by Mastro
Auctions in its December sale was drawn by Norman Rockwell, and it appeared,
in its finished form, on the cover of the October 30, 1948 issue of the Saturday
Evening Post.

The drawing depicts a young married couple, with their child and dog in the
kitchen, "discussing" their political views over breakfast. Each party
is holding the front cover of a Tribune newspaper, one showing a picture of
Harry S. Truman, and the other folded to expose the likeness of Thomas Dewey.
This issue of the Post was released the weekend before Election Day in 1948.
Rockwell's exasperated husband has clearly reached the end of his patience with
his wife's stubbornness to accept his political views. Such a scene is uniquely
American, and no one but an American artist would have grasped it, or been able
to summon the artistic insight necessary to diagram it. More particularly and
accurately, this visual episode could only have been produced by Norman Rockwell.
Auction estimate is $100,000 - $150,000.

Based on early 20th Century documents and later supporting evidence from the
Illinois State Historical Library, the desk offered in Mastro Auctions’
December live sale is believed to have been used by Abraham Lincoln during his
initial tenure with the Illinois State House of Representatives, at first in
Vandalia, Illinois, and then in Springfield.

Lincoln was elected to the State House in 1834, the start of four consecutive
two-year terms that carried him through to 1842. For the majority of his time,
Lincoln served in Vandalia. But in July 1839, the Governor officially relocated
the state government to Springfield. The desks from Vandalia were transported
to a Springfield church, where the legislative session was held for approximately
six months until construction was completed on the new State Capitol building
which was outfitted with brand-new desks. The only other reputedly extant Lincoln
State House desk is said to hail from that brief final period in the Springfield
State Capitol, after his purported usage of this desk at Vandalia.

According to an unsigned handwritten account from the 1920s, Lincoln's Vandalia
desk from the church became the possession of his colleague John G. Graham,
a future Fulton County member of the legislature between 1858 and 1864. Upon
Graham's death it then passed into the hands of a woman who owned property Graham
had been renting, and this landlady stored the desk in a shed for several decades.
In 1898, a businessman from Alton, Illinois, named C.E. Kuhlthau, purchased
the desk. Kuhlthau returned to Alton, Illinois, then moved to Dayton, Ohio,
and later settled in Delaware, Ohio. In Delaware, he donated the desk to Mr.
Henry E. Buck, curator of the Museum Department of the Delaware Public Library.
The desk’s estimated value is $10,000 - $15,000.

1957 Original Graceland Signed Real Estate Contract Archive

Vernon and Gladys Presley lived in a well-appointed house on Audubon Drive
in Memphis, TN, purchased for them by their increasingly famous son, Elvis.
They would have been comfortable there had their son not become the biggest
show business sensation in the western world. It soon became apparent that 1034
Audubon Drive failed to provide privacy from an increasing army of fans who
even started camping on the home’s front lawn.

Consequently, Elvis and his parents spent much of early 1957 in Hollywood
where Elvis was filming “Loving You”, which featured his parents
as extras. On Saturday, March 17, 1957, a day after they returned to Memphis,
Elvis’ mother and father called real estate agent Virginia Grant to see
what she had to offer. Grant wasted no time. That day she showed them two properties,
leaving Graceland to last. By 6 p.m. she had accepted a $1,000 deposit from
the Presleys and drawn up a provisional sales contract detailing the terms of
sale, including an asking price of $90,000.

At 10:00 a.m. on Monday, March 19, 22-year-old Elvis, accompanied by his parents,
met Grant at Graceland. According to the real estate agent's highly detailed,
published account of the transaction, Elvis surveyed the property for a few
minutes, then baptized the house by playing some Rock & Roll at a piano.
Elvis, Vernon and Gladys Presley signed the sales contract on the spot as purchasers,
and a closing date was set for Tuesday, March 26, at 4:30 p.m. The remarkable
archive Mastro Auctions’ is offering in its December Connoisseur Sale
details these landmark events. It includes two legal size copies of the sales
contract document, each double-sided and dated March 17, 1957. The Graceland
signing is written in Grant's hand in red ink, hand-dated by Grant and signed
on the reverse by the Presley family as purchasers and Virginia Grant as selling
agent. Vernon Presley signed first in bold deep blue fountain pen, Elvis appears
immediately below in a different ink, and Gladys Presley signs below in different
black ball point. The trio of signatures is immensely scarce, particularly Gladys
Presley who died on August 14, 1958. Accompanying is a second, final version
of the sales contract. Amendments include a revised price of $102,500, inflated
due to several offers made to the seller as news of the deal leaked out. Also
included is a remarkable survivor from the closing: a receipt slip dated March
26, 1957, acknowledging repayment from Virginia Grant of the $1,000 and signed
by Elvis Presley. Auction estimate is $50,000 - $75,000.

Tiffany Studios “Spider” Lamp

This is considered by many to be the most avant-garde and provocative of Louis
Comfort Tiffany's wide repertoire of leaded glass table lamps. Tiffany lamps
were designed for a fashionable elite in a rapidly expanding world of domestic
electricity and comfortable American homes, but this haunting design refers
more to the work of Edgar Allan Poe than F. Scott Fitzgerald. The web pattern
shade is capped by an original bronze spider cap with six extended bronze legs
and presented on an original bronze base of organic, inverted mushroom form.
The base is impressed "TIFFANY STUDIOS NEW YORK 337." The shade is
impressed "TIFFANY STUDIOS NEW YORK 1424." Auction estimate $40,000
- $60,000.

Lalique Treasures

René Lalique (1860-1945) is best known today for his remarkable work
as a glass designer and manufacturer, and his legacy is still evident in luxury
products of the modern Lalique Company he founded over a century ago. Prior
to glassmaking, however, he forged an extremely successful career as a jeweler,
and by 1900 was widely considered one of the leading jewelers in the world.
Among his most innovative, and currently desirable, creations are the range
of automobile mascots, introduced in 1925 and all but out of fashion ten years
later. This auction contains some of the finest Lalique creations. Highlights
include:

R. Lalique Green Alicante Vase

An extraordinary example of Rene Lalique's large colored glass vases, "Alicante"
takes artistic inspiration from the exotic flora and fauna of the French colonial
world. The vase offered in Mastro Auctions’ Connoisseur Auction is in
the extremely rare bright green glass, the color of jungle foliage. It is presented
in exceptionally fine original condition, with heavy wall and bold neck. The
vase features the stenciled "R. LALIQUE" and engraved "France
No. 998," for the original Lalique design number, rarely found engraved
on vases of this scale and period. Auction estimate is $35,000 - $45,000.

1928 R. Lalique "Victoire" Automobile Hood Ornament

From René Lalique's range of mascots, "Victoire" is the most
evocative of the "golden age of speed," and ranks within the top 5%
of all Lalique in both rarity and desirability. Also known popularly in the
period as "The Spirit of the Wind", Victoire is Lalique's largest
mascot, and clearly designed for the most luxurious and stylish automobiles
of the day. Examples of "Victoire" appear in several U.S. and international
museums, where they are used to illustrate the elegant Art Deco era. It is molded
"R. LALIQUE FRANCE." Lalique design #1147. Auction estimate is $15,000-20,000.

1925 R. Lalique "Suzanne" Statuette

René Lalique is widely considered the best sculptor in the history of
glass making. In recent years, several collectors have focused on his small
range of statuettes, produced mainly in the 1920's. This magnificent figure
of a nude with diaphanous gown demonstrates his extraordinary understanding
of the female form. Few original bases have survived. The statuette presented
on an authentically made French bronze illuminating base and in superb original
condition. The auction estimate is $5,000-$7,000.
Salvador Dali "Madonna and Child" W/C Oil Painting

Salvador Dali (1904-1989) was born in Catalonia and brings a full spectrum
of Mediterranean colors to his powerful work. This amazing masterpiece was probably
painted in the 1960s. The unique painting by the modern master and surrealist
depicts a compelling Virgin clad in vibrant blue holding the Holy infant in
a pose clearly influenced by Raphael. The background is formed as a swirling
sky in old master tradition, enlightened by an unpainted oval. The painting
is signed in the lower right. Auctions estimate is $10,000 - $15,000.

This is just one item from a huge assortment of high end Automobilia being
offered in Mastro Auctions’ Connoisseur Auction. It is the only example
of this weathervane design known to exist, and is an important relic of early
American motor racing, uniquely combined with the highest standards of folk
artistry. The weather vane is made to the highest standards of its day. Two
sheets of copper have been cut to the outline of a period racing automobile
and driver, then fashioned into the ornament. The outstanding piece of Americana
folk art was discovered from the air by the present owner, an amateur pilot,
when flying over New England farmland in the 1970s. Auction estimate is $5,000
- $7,000.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

To pre-register for Mastro Auctions’ December 2007 Connoisseur Auction
and receive auction catalogs, call 630-472-1200 or go to www.mastroauctions.com.

About Mastro Auctions
Mastro Auctions of Burr Ridge, Ill., is part of the Silkroad Equity family of
companies. It is the leading high value collectibles auction company. The company
has sold many of the most famous and valuable sports and Americana collectibles
ever offered to the public, including the most expensive baseball card in history,
the T206 Honus Wagner which sold for nearly $1.3 million, Norman Rockwell’s
“The Dugout” for $355,000, Roger Maris’ 1961 jersey he wore
when he hit home run #61 for $302,000, the bus Rosa Parks rode on when she refused
to stand for segregation for nearly $500,000 and the famous Steve Bartman Cubs
foul ball for over $100,000.